Search - Gilles Peterson, Journeys By DJ (Series) :: Journeys By DJ: Desert Island Mix

Once Again, Great Selection by GP

bordersj2 | Boston | 12/31/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

""If you buy this Record Your Life will be better"... ha! I remember - that was a group called Tamperer Feat. Maya. Their big cut was "Feel It" back in 1998, a remake of the Jackson's old track.... it soared up the UK charts and they always played it at "Jelly Baby" and "The Dome" in Birmingham, England... or everywhere for that matter. Thanks for the memory!



Anyways, I've always respected Gilles Peterson as a DJ and music collector. You know that if you're picking up one of his cd's or compilations that he put together, you're bound to get some sort of mad, obscure, un-heard of track or cut in there. But then again, can you imagine his collection of vinyls and cd's? Yikes! Some people have a gift for making music and playing an instrument. GP's gift is putting the tracks together, finding them, making the connections and simply knowing music. He's done numerous series, from Trust The DJ to "The Incredible Sound of..." and this one, released a few years ago, was on a Journey's By DJ series which included other DJ's like Kevin Yost and even Coldcut.



But it's GP's that I dig. Admittedly I didn't fall for it at the first listen. But over time, it grew on me. Starting out with a sly cut remembering the name of a Jazz club and into a pure, old school track by Letta Mbulu, you'd think this would be soul. But then you have some electronica and beats added in this with Juryman and Ballistic Brothers who redid a classic old jazz track... break beat styled. Followed up nicely by some old school Buscemi then a surprisingly more commercial track, Jazzanova's "Fedime's Flight", you suddenly find yourself in break heaven. Kevin Yost's "One Starry Night" has a sound to it that reminds me of trance group Banda Sonora and "Guitarra G" that was popular back in 2001. Other cuts on this album that stood out where soulful tracks by Roy Davis and Drop Zone Productions. The CD finally winds down (well, not really a wind-down) with the classic Rotary Connection track, redone and remixed numerous times by groups like Nuyorican Soul or 4 Hero, called 'Black Gold of the Sun'. Ha... imagine, a group with Minnie Ripperton (mother to SNL actress Maya Rudolph) in it.



I definitely recommend this CD. It's got a bit of everything in it. Soul, broken beats, electronica, a little latin, a little Brazil. Not every track got me in this though. I never was a big Roni Size fan, and I-Cube's "Ding Ding Ding" is just downright creepy to me. But there's not enough of those tracks to prohibit you from the groove. If you dig this, definitely check out the Break Beat scene with Bugz in the Attic, Nathan Haines, Phil Asher and Patrick Forge among SEVERAL others... including guys out of the US and Germany (Compost), etc."